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Bound For Glory
Out Of The Woodwork V
© August 18, 2005 by Gary E. Andrews
All Right Reserved for the Globe


Chords:
E O221OO
A XO222O
B7 O212O2
A7 XO2223

I'm rumbling along on a westbound freight.
I'm a Bo o' th' road, An' it does feel great.
I left Okemah, must be ten days gone.
I could feel better but it wouldn't be right.
I wonder what the po' folks
(a)re doin' tonight.

(I) laid over last night in Idaho,
Traded half a can o' beans, For two p'tatoes.
I'm over halfway to where I don't want to go,
Up on top o' th' train, Lookin' up at th' night,
Wond'rin' what the po' folks
(a)re doin' tonight.

I'm Bound For Glory in the California sun.
We'll pick the man's grapes 'til the pickin' is done.
Th' pay ain't great but it's better than none.
We'll make up for pay with a passell of fun.
The Rockies are cold so we squeeze up tight,
And wonder what the po' folks,
Wonder what the po' folks,
Wonder what th po' folks,
(a)re doin' tonight.

Take it train.
pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka;
pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka:
pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka-pooka-chuka.

Th' train's rollin' in to the Valley o' th' Vines.
They need lots o' help to make good wine.
We'll pick guitar and sing with the campesinos,
Dance and sing in the sunset light,
And wonder what the po' folks,
(a)re doin' tonight.

Sleep's comin' on.
Gettin' harder to fight.
I wonder what the po' folks,
(a)re doin' tonight.

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Bound For Glory © August 18, 2005 by Gary E. Andrews
All Rights Reserved For The Globe

I bought a copy of Woody Guthrie's autobiography, "Bound For Glory," in Jeff and Gail Valentine's 'Packrats' store on the southeast corner of Second and Court Streets in Portsmouth, Ohio. Their slogan was, "We have the stuff your mother threw away."
It is a saga of a man who saw justice, I think, and knew injustice when he saw it. From California after Pearl Harbor, where he defended Japanese Americans against the illogical prejudice of mob mentality, to gangster Lucky Luciano's sabotage of the "Normandie" ocean liner, being converted to transport 5,000 troops to the theater of war in Europe, Woody Guthrie witnesses history.

He tells what his life was like, the passive, common man in that global scheme of things, during a brief trip starting from his home, Okemah, Oklahoma, Cherokee I think he said, for "City on a hill." Myself, I just made a fictional trip, tryin' to steal, or just share Woody's quiet thunder. That hobo really did it! He was the "Bo of the road," in and "up on top of the train."